%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1321066690098120100%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to suggest an image.%%A [[{{Herald}} minor character]] has an important MacGuffin or other PlotDevice, but has been fatally wounded, or is otherwise about to die. This character then hands the object over to the main character(s) before dying. [[CallToAdventure The main character(s) continue the dead person's mission]] to get the thing to wherever it's supposed to get to before the bad guys get it.

A good way to keep the true story a mystery (and to keep the audience interested) is to have the main character be an UnlikelyHero that has NO idea what's going on or who to trust.

The old bearer may double as a SacrificialLamb, and is quite often a PursuedProtagonist. Despite the trope name, the object handed over might or might not be a MacGuffin.

Compare with ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest, PlotCoupon, and MacGuffinEscortMission. See also AlmostDeadGuy, who passes on ''information'' instead of plot coupons, and BequeathedPower, when the thing being passed on is some kind of superpower rather than an item. For when the transaction involves human beings, see TakeCareOfTheKids.

May be a HarbingerOfImpendingDoom. Contrast ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive.

SubTrope of TakeUpMySword, itself a SubTrope of {{Herald}}. Compare TheChooserOfTheOne.----!!Examples

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* The man with the data card in the first episode of ''Anime/DirtyPairFlash''. The new incarnation of the Lovely Angels spend the episode arguing over which of them has to get the card back to HeroesRUs headquarters -- and demolishing everything that gets in their way.* In ''SaintSeiya'', the dying Saint of Sagittarius hands baby Athena and the Golden Armor to Dr. Kido.* Ralph Wednesday, the vanship courier with [[MacGuffinGirl Alvis Hamilton]] in ''Anime/LastExile''.* The vaccine file in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. The file in question was a list of people who had received a vaccine for an otherwise incurable illness (the vaccine was rejected due to pressure from certain individuals and organizations who wanted to prevent their products from being rendered useless). [[spoiler: The current owner of the file tries to give it to Togusa after the building's attacked by TheDragon and his {{Mooks}}. Togusa tries to get him to escape with it instead (he's caught and shot, meaning the protagonists have to make do with a video of what Togusa saw).]]* Happens from time to time on ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf,'' and usually it's Happosai who gets the MacGuffin.* Kakashi in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' gets his Sharingan this way.* So begins the [[InNameOnly execrable]] anime adaptation of ''[[Anime/{{Lensman}} Gray Lensman]]''.* In ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', after her ship crashes Nausicaa obtains [[spoiler:the control crystal for the God Soldier]] from a dying (important) passenger.* The end of the first episode of ''GundamUnicorn'', [[spoiler:where Banagher receives the titular mech [[LukeIAmYourFather from his father]].]] * A terribly wounded Saki tries to give her heart (and power source) to ''SteelAngelKurumi'', but it ends up as a FusionDance somehow.* In the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode Sympathy for the Devil, a dying bounty head gives Spike a ring and tell him that he's the only one who can save "him" now. Cue the crew spending the rest of the episode figuring out what the guy meant and what they're supposed to do with the ring.** ''Gateway Shuffle'' starts off with this, with Faye finding a fatally wounded police officer drifting through space. He tells her to take a briefcase to the I.S.S.P, and tells her not to open it. She does neither, and the object in the briefcase is sought after by the antagonist of that episode. She manages to steal it back and pocket it, only for it to come back into play at the very end of the episode to ruin her plans.* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': It's revealed that Yusei's dying father gave the 3 Signer Dragon cards he had to Rex Godwin (a fourth -- Ruka's -- got lost en route).* In ''Anime/MetalArmorDragonar'', the PowerTrio comes across a badly wounded man carrying the discs needed to activate the titular HumongousMecha. In a subversion, he begs them to give the discs to [[TheEmpire Giganos]], obviously not realizing that the boys are [[TheFederation Federation]] trainees.* ''OnePiece'' has a rather interesting variation of this. The former Pirate King Gold Roger, well aware of his impending death due to disease, turns himself in. He then challenges everyone to find his MacGuffin and proclaims that whoever finds it can have it. The World Government had been about to execute him to make an example out of him to other would-be pirates, but his [[ThanatosGambit stunt]] singlehandedly created an Age of Piracy. Made even more interesting by the fact that nobody knows for sure whether the titular "One Piece" treasure really exists, much less what it actually might be.** Confirmed by [[spoiler:Whitebeard in his dying moments]] to actually exist but he doesn't say where or what.* Although the characters are acquainted, the rest of the trope plays out as normal in ''Anime/AgnisPhilosophy''. Agni is apparently an acolyte in some sort of magic ritual. When they are attacked and their leader is shot, he passes on the smaller crystal that was part of the ritual to her as he lays dying.* This happens in ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'', [[spoiler: when the dying [[OracularUrchin Anlu the Oracle]] gives her necklace to the Genbu Senshi. Originally it was used to aid Takiko on the search for her Celestial Warriors, but then it would later become one of the [[MacGuffin Shinzahos]] required to summon the beast gods, Suzaku and Seiryuu in the future.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* This tends to happen to [[Comicbook/UsagiYojimbo Usagi]] quite a bit. More often than not, it turns into a MacGuffinEscortMission.* The somewhat-obscure MarvelComics hero The Torpedo (see RomSpaceKnight and NewWarriors) got his [[PowerArmor supercostume]] from the dying scientist who had made it for an evil organization but then changed his mind... while he was ''waiting for an elevator''. Then he just decided to ''[[TooDumbToLive put it on]]'' right then and there, which got him into a fight with Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, who had been pursuing the scientist moments before!* This is how John [=DiFool=] got [[ComicBook/MetabaronsUniverse The Incal]], via a dying Berg disguised as a mutant.* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' corps recruit new members by passing their ring on before they die. If there is a worthy successor nearby, they will hand off the ring. If not, the ring will fly off under its own power upon the bearer's demise and scout out a suitable recipient.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]* Disney's ''Disney/TreasurePlanet''. Billy Bones is not a long-term lodger, but instead crashes his ship on the inn's doorstep and dies almost immediately on setting foot inside, with the pirates right behind. Before he dies, he opens the chest and shoves the treasure map into Jim's hands.* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'' Queen Tara is killed by a Boggan arrow while running from them carrying the pod which will bloom into her successor. MK finds her, and Tara bids her to take the pod to Nim Galuu before dying.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* Parodied multiple times in ''Creator/TakeshiKitano'''s ''Getting Any?'', where a dying gangster (it's the ''same gangster, dying multiple times'') comes up to the protagonist and gives him something (a gun, a car, etc.) and says "Guard this for me, will you?" HilarityEnsues.* ''Film/{{Innerspace}}'': After being shot, a scientist uses the last of his strength to inject nearby passer-by Jack with the syringe containing the miniaturized submersible.* ''Film/TheFifthElement'': Four of the Elements needed to save the galaxy are held by [[spoiler:Diva Plavalaguna (inside her body!) who hands them over to Dallas as she is dying]].** The key that one of the aliens gives the monk in the pre-WWII prologue also serves as one.* In the 1981 movie ''Film/{{Diva}}'', a prostitute stashes a cassette implicating a high ranking official as a mob boss in a postman's bag just before being murdered.* Billy Bones does this to Jim in ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'' as well.* ''Film/FoulPlay'': A dying agent slips Goldie Hawn a microfilm cassette in a pack of cigarettes, unbeknownst to her. The bad guys try to kill her for the microfilm she doesn't know she has. The microfilm is eventually[[spoiler:destroyed in a fire before anyone can view it.]]* All the adaptations (and [[Film/MyFavoriteBlonde most parodies]]) of John Buchan's ''Literature/TheThirtyNineSteps''. The best known (1935) version was directed by Hitchcock.* ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' involves a researcher with an incriminating videotape who dies soon after passing on the MacGuffin.* This is kinda-sorta the plot of ''Film/ShootEmUp'', with the baby as the McGuffin, handed off from the woman who's just given birth to it after she gets shot.* In ''Film/TheNet'', Dale sends Angela a disk and later flies down in his Cessna to meet her. The bad guys mess with the radar, causing Dale to the crash his plane.* In ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', Ugarte entrusts the letters of transit to Rick, only to be taken into custody and killed later that night.* ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' hits the viewer hard with this trope. Everyone is after the titular bird (which is insanely valuable PirateBooty but has been covered in lead to hide the value). For the first half of the movie the police (who don't know about the bird) suspect the main character of unrelated murders ([[spoiler:which were actually committed by the BigBad while looking for the bird]]). Then, about forty minutes into the film, the bird has only been discussed up until now and nobody knows where the thing actually is or who's hiding it. The body count is mounting and people start saying the bird might be cursed because of all of the people who get the bird die right afterward. Then [[spoiler:TheGhost]] suddenly bursts into the room, riddled with gunshots, carrying the bird, then dies at the protagonist's feet without any explanation. Now the main character not only has the statue that a bunch of violent people are after but also has ''yet another dead body'' to explain to the police, [[spoiler:this time of a guy he's been going around town asking people about]]. This plot is a weird case of ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin, PirateBooty, a possible ArtifactOfDoom, a sort of ArtifactOfAttraction (since the bird looks worthless), and a ClingyMacGuffin ([[spoiler:since he can't let anyone know about the bird]]) all at the same time. [[spoiler:The rest of the movie involves him trying to exonerate himself without letting anyone (especially the police, who would just decide he'd killed everyone with the bird as his motive) find out he has the statue.]]* ''Film/MenWithBrooms'' has Donald Foley arranging to have his ashes placed in the last of the [[MineralMacGuffin Magellan Stones]], and his will is basically him [[ThanatosGambit guilt-tripping his old curling team]] into reuniting and trying to win the Golden Broom.* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', while Elizabeth Swann is on Sao Feng's boat, they get attacked. Sao Feng gets stabbed by a giant piece of wood and [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest hands over a seemingly useless trinket]] which later turns out to be one of the Pieces of Eight needed for the meeting, and for [[spoiler: releasing Calypso from Tia Dalma]].* Hitchcock's second version of ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooMuch.'' The man who knows too much doesn't exactly know just what it is he knows.* The plot of ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' kicks off when [[AlmostDeadGuy 009]], clutching a priceless Faberge egg, bursts into the British embassy in East Germany with a throwing knife stuck in his back.* This is how baby Roshan comes into the care of Manny and Sid in the first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' film, after his mother succumbs to injuries sustained from jumping into a river to escape the pack of saber-tooth tigers.* In-universe, in ''PulpFiction'', the story Capt. Koontz tells young Butch about his father's watch.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gamebooks]]* In ''[[Literature/FightingFantasy The Forest of Doom]]'' the dwarf Bigleg tells your character to take a hammer to Gillibrand before dying from arrow wounds.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', for the same reason listed under ''Film''.* ''Literature/TheThirtyNineSteps'' starts with a dead man leaving his little black notebook containing the cryptic title phrase to Richard Hannay.** In the sequel, ''Greenmantle'', a dying man staggers into a Kashnir outpost carrying a bit of paper on which is scrawled, 'Kasredin', 'v1' and 'cancer'. Cue race against time to decipher same...* ''[[TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}} The Cloakmaster Cycle]]'' started this way. Though the protagonist happened to be sensible enough and [[RefusalOfTheCall tried to get rid of the thing]] that brings overwhelming forces on his head, [[ClingyMacGuffin not that it was easy]].* Parodied in ''[[DiamondBrothers South by Southeast]]'' by Creator/AnthonyHorowitz, which itself is one big ShoutOut to political conspiracy thrillers. The MacGuffin's name even is . . . well.* In the short story "Paladin of the Lost Hour", Gaspar is dying but needs to find a new, trustworthy guardian for a magical watch. Said watch holds the last hour of the Universe, in which anything can happen, but when it completes, the end of everything. If he dies without passing it on, the watch will begin to tick.* This trope is basically how ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' begins---Elfangor, an alien from the ([[AntiHero more-or-less]]) good Andalite species, crash-lands on Earth in front of five kids, warning them that the ([[AntiVillain more-or-less]]) evil alien Yeerks are invading and giving them the morphing power to fight them. In this case, though the MacGuffin is just information/a power rather than an object. [[spoiler:But then, they manage to ''retrieve'' an object---the device that gives the morphing power---from David later...]]* In ''GreenRider'', Karigan comes upon a mortally wounded Rider in the forest and is given a two-part [=MacGuffin=]: the message he was supposed to deliver, and his Rider brooch (which, as she later finds out, comes with magical powers).* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' has a pretty revelatory one towards the end. [[spoiler:Snape, whose [[DoubleAgent loyalties]] were a matter of some debate, has his throat ripped out by [[BigBad Voldemort's]] pet snake Nagini, but lives just long enough to give Harry a jarful of memories that reveal Snape's back story, motive, status as TheAtoner, and also that [[TheChessmaster Dumbledore's]] plan hinges on Harry [[HeroicSacrifice willingly giving himself up to Voldemort]].]] Ack.* One of MarionZimmerBradley's Lythande stories begins with Lythande comforting a dying woman, and getting stuck with the task of returning a magical artifact to the woman's people. (She isn't very enthusiastic about this, but it [[ClingyMacGuffin won't leave her alone until she does]]...)* At the beginning of ''Discworld/WyrdSisters'', the crown prince and crown of the recently murdered king are given to the three witches by a royal servant who dies just as he stumbles in. The witches try to get both off their hands ASAP.---> '''Magrat''' (shivering in the cold of the open moor): "What is there to be afraid of out here?"---> '''Granny''' (with considerable satisfaction): "Us."* At the beginning of Creator/TomHolt's ''Literature/ExpectingSomeoneTaller'' Malcolm Fisher receives the Tarnhelm and the Ring of the Nibelungs from Ingolf, the last of the Frost Giants, cleverly disguised as a badger who he's just run over with his car. Not being educated in Norse mythology or even having seen the opera poor Malcolm has no clue what he's getting himself into.---> '''Ingolf''': "Cut my arm and lick some of the blood."---> '''Malcolm''': "I'd rather not."---> '''Ingolf''': "But you'll be able to understand the language of the birds."---> '''Malcolm''': "I don't particularly want to be able to understand the language of the birds."---> '''Ingolf''': "You'll understand the language of the birds and like it, my lad!"* In Creator/JosephineTey's ''The Singing Sands'', the MacGuffin is an unfinished sonnet, which the protagonist, who used to write sonnets in school, takes with him out of idle interest, then considers finishing as a gesture to the dead person; as he studies it, he realizes it is a code.* Alther Mella in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' passes over the Akhu Amulet to Marcia Overstrand before dying.* In the Franchise/StarTrek novel [[Literature/StarTrekTheGenesisWave The Genesis Wave, book three]], an alien fleeing from the Romulans with a portable Genesis Device gives it to a Bajoran monk before dying. Using the Lomarian MindControl abilities, it convinces the monk it is actually Kai Opaka, and is bestowing upon him the "Orb of Life".* ''Twice'', in quick succession, in Creator/AgathaChristie's 1959 novel ''Literature/CatAmongThePigeons''. A prince who suspects (correctly) that he's about to be assassinated entrusts his faithful servant with one last mission: smuggle some hotly-contested jewels out of the country for him. The servant concludes (also correctly) that the jewels will also make ''him'' a target for assassination, so he hides them in his visiting sister's luggage.* [[spoiler: Subverted]] in Dan Brown's ''Literatere/DigitalFortress''. As he's dying, Ensei Tankado holds out his ring to a stranger, the chase of which drives the plot. [[spoiler: The trick is that the MacGuffin Tankado was actually trying to hold out was his gesture of three fingers - the number 3 is the failsafe code for the titular virus.]]* In the chapter about drug dealers in ''Freakonomics'', a grad student named Sudhir Venkatesh unwittingly got a firsthand look at the operations of a Chicago gang. When the FBI were hot on their trail, the gang's second-in-command, Booty, told Sudhir that he (Booty) probably didn't have long to live because the gang suspected him of having ratted them out, and asked Sudhir to take some of his notebooks and try to do some good for future generations with them. The notebooks turned out to be the gang's equivalent of accounting ledgers.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':** Doyle passing on his visions to Cordelia via their LastKiss.** Echoed in Season Five, when Cordelia's visions pass on to Angel.* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': Gets the Intersect in an e-mail from a dying Bryce Larkin. Though it turns out Bryce was NotQuiteDead. Oddly enough, though, Bryce passes off the Intersect (this time the 2.0) a '''second''' time to Chuck when he dies for real (or at least, dies slightly more permanently).* ''Series/TheColbertReport'': ''Alpha Squad Seven: The New Tek Jansen Adventures'', the ShowWithinAShow, had the better part of a whole episode with someone dying (with a massive crater in his torso, no less) but taking about three minutes talking with Tek Jansen about directions to get to the place that the MacGuffin needed to go, and only ''finally'' expired after plenty of fumbling, putzing around, and being interrupted.* ''Series/TheLostRoom'': The Key ends up in Joe's possession after it's previous owner enters his apartment and then dies from gunshot wounds.* ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'': Starts with one of these (though he gives Jack the plot device a bit before the MechaMooks catch up with him, leading them away.)* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': In the [[Recap/RevolutionS1E1Pilot pilot episode]], knowing he is about to be captured, Ben Matheson gives his lanyard to Aaron. [[spoiler:Then is accidentally and fatally shot a few minutes later]].* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "The Forge," Archer meets a Vulcan who then gets struck by sand lightning. Before dying, the Vulcan mind-melds with Archer--transferring the ''katra'' of Surak.* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The Colt is the focus of an entire season, and is handed to the main characters by its dying guardian.* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'': Regent Jane (aka Pete's mom, [[HeyItsThatGuy aka]] [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Captain Janeway]]) is given a bracelet by a fellow regent who was trapped by the rubble of the building they were trying to escape. It makes her "The Guardian" of Warehouse 13 and helps them "keep control" of it - details deliberately sketchy at this point.* In ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' the Fisher King gives Merlin a vial of water from Avalon's lake just before he dies (this is important in the final episode) and a witch gives Arthur a horn that can bring back the dead just before ''she'' dies. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoon'' begins like this, only it's not a MacGuffin: it's a ''dragon'', and its rider is shot and killed while fighting the [[BigBad Dark Dragon]].* This is how you get the kinesis module in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace''. A blinded, mortally-wounded woman manages to hang on long enough, alone in a monster infected GhostShip, to give Isaac a necessary tool for solving the various puzzles he'll be presented with later.* Surviving a [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld Zeppelin]] crash in the intro cinematic of ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'', you are given a ring by a dying gnome, and told to "Find the boy".** Subverted [[spoiler:when the rings turns out to be completely unnecessary for anything more than selling it back to its owner for a petty sum. With the game's heavy Lord of the Rings references, this is likely intentional]]* If you didn't pick up the Arm Cannon Power up in ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' when Zero Dies at the hands of Vile he gives X his Arm Cannon which then becomes the Arm Cannon Upgrade.** A more fitting example would be at (nearly) the opposite end of the series, ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' where the {{Mentor}} who had originally become [[MyHeroZero Zero]] is mortally wounded by the BigBad and his [[TheDragon Dragons]]. His last action is to give Vent or Aile his Model Z, and ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome things get awesome.]]''* [[PursuedProtagonist Ted]] hands his [[ArtifactOfDoom Soul Eater True Rune]] to [[TheHero Tir]] in ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'', and the rest is history.* Occurs in the tutorial of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', when Emperor Uriel Septim gives your character the Amulet of Kings moments before being cut down by an assassin.* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' starts out with one. Roger was napping on the job and avoided the brutal Sarien invasion of the Arcada. He ducks into a laboratory, where the dying head scientist gives him the code to a cartridge containing plans to self-destruct the Star Generator, and for Xenon to rebuild the device in order to save their dying sun.* In ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', [[spoiler: Baron Praxis]] gives you [[spoiler: the Precursor Stone]] after [[spoiler: Kor kills him]].** [[spoiler: and by "give", we mean he revealed the bomb containing the stone which would have destroyed the entire world if exploded. Dumb guy.]]* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series:** Done in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' when Buzz Buzz is fatally wounded by Pokey's mother. Before he dies, he hands you the Sound Stone so you can record the Your Sanctuary melodies. He was going to give it to you in a bit, anyway.** In the first game, ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', after [[spoiler: [=R7038xx=] destroys EVE, your protector robot,]] the seventh Melody is [[spoiler: found in its body.]]** A rather interesting version in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'': taking a MacGuffin is what causes [[spoiler: its guardian Magypsy]] to die ([[spoiler: or rather, disappear]]). I'm Not Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin?* In ''[[VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman]]'', you are given the Unlosing Ranger's belt by its previous holder, Pirohiko Ichimonji, as he lays dying after being hit by a car. [[spoiler:This is also how Pirohiko himself received the belt, [[LegacyImmortality as well as everyone to take on the "Unlosing Ranger" title before him]].]]* If the dream of being a hero counts as a sort of [=McGuffin=], then Zack and Cloud play this out in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' prequel ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''.** More appropriately is the Buster Sword, handed down from Angeal to Zack after [[spoiler:Zack is forced to kill his mentor.]] And then from Zack to Cloud when [[DoomedByCanon Zack]] [[ItWasHisSled is killed by Shinra]]. Cloud so far has not passed the buster sword on to anyone else* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' starts this way. The player encounters a dying knight who gives the player the Estus Flask, the key out of the Undead Asylum and the quest to ring the twin Bells of Awakening.* ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'' opens with an anime Joan of Arc and her sidekick finding a dying man on horseback, carrying two very weird things: an extravagant gold bracer, and a giant purple frog. They proceed to kick ass against the Englishmen who now ally with a demon army. Unfortunately, they don't realize the real potential of these artifacts until one of them is doomed (and eventually executed) and the other is too far away to save her.* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' has the main character in the Labyrinth trying to escape. [[spoiler:Dr. Booster]] gets teleported in and suffers a big fall. When you talk to them, they give you an item to proceed further into the Labyrinth. [[spoiler:Dedicated players will find that the jump is possible without the item and will cause Dr. Booster to reserve his energy to live and give you the item at a later time, after improving it even more. People that play towards the end of the game will find a journal of Dr. Booster that details his wished to make the item, as long as ''he lives long enough''.]]* In ''ResidentEvilOutbreak'', Raymond the cop notices a gasoline tanker truck just before he's attacked by a zombie. He yells for the player(s) to unleash the gas from the truck and use it to set the zombies on fire, dropping a cigarette lighter in the process.* In ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', Michael Edwards is perfectly healthy but suspects that the Ancients are going to kill him not long after he gives his MacGuffin to Edward Roivas.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]* In ''Webcomic/TheNoob'', Ohforf (the titular “noob”) looks all set up for this as a high-level player reminisces about his achievements and how he is now in his final hours of his playing the game (the speech is a spoof of the FamousLastWords from ''Film/BladeRunner''). [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope But haha, no, that would just be too easy on the poor newbie]]. Besides, the reality of it being in an MMO would make it quite unlikely he could be anyone ''important''.]]* This is how the power of The Tiger got passed along to its current holder in Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}.* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' used this as the origin story for [[spoiler: Redcloak as the high priest of the Dark One. He was given his namesake mantle because the other priests couldn't escape when paladins sacked the goblin village for EXP.]]* Appears in [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/04/11 this strip]] of ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', adapted from the beginning of a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure Tycho ran back in 2009.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* In ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'', the Matrix of Leadership is like the present in a Pass The Parcel game. The previous holder dies but just has time to pass it on to their most trusted friend. This happens multiple times, not just in the movie but in the third season too.* This carries over to ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' as well where Primus himself gave Optimus the Matrix before shutting down. [[spoiler: In season 3, a dying Optimus tries to pass the Matrix to Smokescreen. However, Smokescreen subverts this and instead uses an artifact to revive Optimus]].* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/StrokerAndHoop''. A dying karate instructor entrusts the handle of a magic sword to Stroker's son Keith and warns that reuniting the handle with the pieces of the blade would be disastrous. Stroker asks why, if it's such a big deal, the sword wasn't destroyed completely, even suggesting flushing it down the toilet or something. When the sword is reassembled, it's nothing more than an oversized flashlight. Hoop, who was fighting with the villain using the sword, noted that when the sword was broken and separated centuries ago, that people in ancient China would've seen that as amazing or terrifying.* A dying Race Bannon gives a sample of a deadly bioweapon to Brock Samson and the Venture boys in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "Ice Station- Impossible"* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' begins with Finn and Jake finding a very old Gnome Knight who was transformed into a frog and spent his life guarding a trio of magic beans, due to a prophecy that the fruit of one of the three beans would turn out to be pure evil. Finn agrees to take up the Gnome's tireless quest to guard the beans, allowing the Gnome to die, and Finn guards them... for about thirty seconds, until [[CuttingTheKnot he and Jake decide to just grow all the beans and destroy the evil that comes out]].* In the pilot episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Harry Tully, an associate of Warren [=McGinnis=], Terry's father, passes on an infodisk about a new mutagenic nerve gas that's being developed by Wayne-Powers, after being "accidentally" exposed to it. [[HeKnowsTooMuch After Warren gets killed for finding out about it]], Terry finds the same infodisk hidden in a picture, which he brings to the elderly Bruce Wayne.[[/folder]]